First Assistant Director
Throughout the creation of the feature I took on many different aspects of the roles but most importantly I was the 1st AD. within my role I made detailed schedule breakdowns saying what everyone needed to be doing minute by minute, wrote daily "To Do" lists, oversaw Art Direction as well as all pre-production priorities. Some challenges I faced included over-loading myself with work. Some of that came from me not trusting that tasks would get done and some of it had to do with our directorial situation. Along the wayI learned that sometimes you need to learn to face circumstances that are not necessarily what you wanted or expected. I also learned how to follow through with tasks and how to ensure the success of the film or project as a whole rather than just success for yourself. Some feedback I was given from the class was to not be as harsh about everything we do. In my opinion its not harsh its caring. However, I made a change by letting myself have more fun on set. Overall I believe I did everything I could do to make the film successful. I feel I impacted the film by picking up some slack when I needed to as well as ensuring everyone was on task bringing a professional feeling to it.
Time management
In class I posted a TO DO list every day sharing with the class what they needed to do to prepare for the next shoot. I also made schedule breakdowns during class to help our filming days go smoother. There were not many times where I was done before class got out. If I were done Keenan and I would conference about the next shoot to ensure we were on the same page, or at least close. Outside of class I would stay up all night to make sure everything for the shoot was done if I had not gotten conformation. At times when I asked for things to be done and they weren't, I had to go out and take care of it myself. I feel as if this has bettered me as an eComm student because it taught me follow through and that sometimes to get things done you need to take charge.
Strengths
I think my main strength is how driven and passionate I am about what I do in this class. To maximize my strengths I try to experience as much as I can in order to make me a more well rounded filmmaker.
Improvements
I need to learn that I don't need to do everything myself. I need to learn to trust my crew since they are my team and they are glue of the whole project. I tend to get stressed out when things begin to go poorly so I am planning on making a list of things I need to work on over the summer and throughout the next year to prepare me in the best way possible for the next years feature film.
Summary
I loved getting to appreciate everyones work at the Premiere. Brett Taylor's Short film blew me away like everything he does and the hidden was absolutely gorgeous due to Leah and Amanda as well as Brady's vision. I thoroughly enjoyed merging both eComm classes for the night since I never get to experience the creativity and family environment of sixth and seventh hour. Seeing everyone dressed up and together made my heart happy even if I wasn't "happy" with the outcome of my movie. The process of the movie and being on set though stressful, made me realize how much I want to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. I feel like the Premiere went very well However, I got feedback from my family saying that they didn't know when they could get up to use the restroom or get snacks. Overall I learned how to deal with people you don't necessarily want to work with and how to find a way to make the best out of a stressful situation. For next year I want to be Director and I want to start earlier in the year and be more of a family as an eComm class. Overall, I am going to miss all of my seniors and the memories I made with them. I appreciate Abbey Heller and all the work she put in to make this film as good as we could make it with what we had to work with. The amount of appreciation I have for the people who put everything they had into the movie will stay with me forever and continue to inspire me as I begin a career in filmmaking.
